Anyone got any advice on a good place to go to weld in a set of subframe connectors down here in the Phoenix/Tucson area? I'd drive up to Phoenix to make sure it gets done right. Anyone had subframes put on? Where? Where you satisfied? How much did it cost?
Whatever you do, make sure they remove the carpeting where they are welding. There's been some horror stories about peoples interior getting burnt up. I believe the car should also be on the ground so there is a load on the suspension.
It's gonna be on a drive on lift so the car is supported by the tires, so the suspension will be loaded.
And someone said (maybe it was ebmiller) that if you air cool the area after each weld, that you won't have to worry about the car catching. I'm definitely gonna be there watching them though.
The suspension should be loaded like it is when it's on the ground. Also, if your doors are sagging, get them fixed first. The doors are an intregal part of the structure. If you have ever had the door panel off, you may have noticed a reinforcement bar running across from one end to the other. Once the subframe connectors are in, you've locked in your chassis. Make those chassis adjustments now.
Well, if I go to the frame shop, they're going to check the frame first before I get anything welded on.
I also wondered about my saggy door panels, but they're gonna be doing the welding with the doors open, so that won't change anything. If anything it might make the doors a little harder to close because the chassis won't flex to fit the doors, the door hinges will have to move to fit the chassis, which would be fixed as soon as I get new hinge pins to a stock fit. I do believe the doors are a large part of the chassis support on these cars, but I don't believe that they have anything to do with SFC's. I received similar feedback when I asked on the suspension/chassis board.
Have a conversation with AndyZ28. He markets the best set of door hinges available for our cars....and is quite an authority on 3rd Gen F car body integrity.
Before you cry foul because you feel he has a vested interest in selling hinges, use a common sense approach. The doors are a key component in 3rd
Gen body integrity. That's a fact. Look at the Chevy Highperformance Magazine link and look at the inner door structure photo and you'll soon recognize how important the fitment of the doors is to the overall structure. Now imagine or try this. This is an over dramatazation but you'll get the idea. Take a plastic milk jug. Make sure the lid is on tight. Put a tiny hole in it to release air. Crush the jug. Take the lid off and put it back on. Easy...no? Now take off the lid and crush the jug more. Try to put the lid on. You probably won't be able to because you distorted the mouth of the jug with the top off and you didn't when you had the top on because the lid held the area secure.
It will work the same for the installation of your SFC. If you tend to the integrity of the door before adding the SFC. I will come out great. If you have lousy hinges, it acts just like crushing the jug with the top off. You welded in a set to the structure and you have to hope that your door jamb area is not distorted in any way because when you get your new hinges, they are fabricated assuming you have a factory set door jamb area. If your door jamb area is tweaked, your screwed!!
And.....they better weld in the SFC with the doors shut!! What ever way you want the body structure to be is the way your welder should weld in the SFCs....doors shut, hatch shut, t-tops secure!!!
If the "frame" is straight, then it wouldn't matter if I had doors on it or not. I do 100% believe the doors are a LARGE part of the structure of the car, but only when it's running. If it's being supported by all four tires sitting there, on a level surface, I don't think they're part of the equation.
I also think that after I get the subframes my hinges will require an adjustment, if not complete replacement because the body will be straighter than the hinges.
So. We took up the carpet and insulation while welding, and somehow the insulation that goes up under the dash caught fire. And then ate through the wire harness that goes from the driver side firewall into the cab and back to the fuel pump, etc. I might get my car back tomorrow. Maybe. But there will be burned insulation, a burned hood pull thingy, and all new wiring in that area. Woo. Fire.
